500.A15A4 General Committee (Arms)/209: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 3—3:35 p.m.]
158. With reference to recent French proposals at Geneva for amplifying notice of laying down naval vessels envisaged in present clauses taken from Washington and London treaties and included in American draft proposal convention covering trade and manufacture of armament, Captain Danckwerts, in the presence of Admiral Bellairs, expressed to Naval Attaché today attitude of British Government as follows: British Government views French proposition sympathetically but believes it should be held in abeyance until proposals discussed last autumn in London naval negotiations64 for qualitative and quantitative limitation of naval vessels or, alternatively, proposal for declared building programs be further discussed and definitely accepted or rejected. These latter proposals to be considered if a naval conference is called this year.65
Naval Attaché requests copy of this telegram be transmitted for the information of naval intelligence.
Geneva informed.
- See Foreign Relations, 1934, vol. i, pp. 217 ff.↩
- See pp. 64 ff.↩